Once Upon an Us

When People Ask Who Started a Fight, It’s Best to Just Respond With “Who’s to Say?”

Jude recounted his entire time at the Nazi embassy for Tony and Thea in detail, making sure he didn’t leave out even the times he’d left for lunch and found his favorite pen had moved or when he’d found a page had been ripped from his scheduling book.  They went through every little detail, Thea listening intently while Tony took more notes. The more Jude thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt about the entire situation. With every question Thea asked him, he realized it was very likely he was being toyed with at the embassy and that they knew exactly why he was there.  Every time he’d gone out for lunch or to run an unimportant errand, he’d come back to find Hoffman just returning from somewhere or someone he didn’t recognize leaving the floor Hoffman’s office was on. He definitely didn’t leave those details out in his recount of everything. He had completely forgotten about Fritz in the dining room by the time they finished.  He only remembered when Tony asked about how Fritz had been acting after the workdays.

“He’s in the dining room!”  Jude suddenly announced, sitting upright from where he’d been lying down.  “I wonder if he’s having the same thing happen.” He could have sworn Tony and Thea shared a look between them, but it was gone before he could be sure.  He left the den and hurried down the halls to find Fritz sketching on a paper towel in the dining room. Carol was leaning against the countertop, staring at Fritz with pursed lips and narrowed eyes as she sipped something from a mug.

“Are you done?”  Fritz asked, looking up desperately when he heard Jude enter.  Jude just waved for him to follow him down the hall. “What’s going on?”

“We found something suspicious in my recount of the past few days,”  Jude explained vaguely. He walked straight through Tony’s den, leaving Fritz alone with Tony and Thea for a moment.  He grabbed the plastic chair out of the Bayer’s Bar’s backroom number seven and set it out for Fritz. Fritz looked around in confusion, but one glance at Thea’s hard stare and firm instruction to sit, he did as he was told.

“We need to know everything about your past few days at the embassy,”  Tony told him, leaning forward and prepared to write more notes. “Even if all you did was sweep dust and wipe mirrors, we need a detailed recount of it all.”

“Um, okay,”  Fritz agreed, shifting under Thea’s hard stare.  He started from the beginning, subconsciously thanking his perfect memory as he recalled everyone he’d encountered and everything that had happened in the past few days.  He’d tried to be as exact as possible, but he felt bad when he couldn’t provide them with names like they asked. He’d just seen their faces, not heard their names. Most people didn’t talk to janitors, let alone Nazis.  When he finished, he wasn’t sure if Thea and Tony were satisfied or not.

“That’s all I can tell you guys,”  Fritz said, not sure what else he could say to please them.  He’d told them all he remembered right down to the number of piles he’d swept each day.  He sighed when neither Tony nor Thea reacted positively, looking at Jude for help, but Jude was watching the Rossi siblings with a curious look on his face.

“You don’t trust him,”  Jude realized, looking at Tony and Thea in shock.  Why he was shocked, he wasn’t really sure. It had taken a year or two to get them to trust him despite the fact that he’d helped Thea escape the Nazi regime relatively unharmed.  He wasn’t sure why he had expected them to trust Fritz right off the bat.

“Of course we don’t, Jude,”  Thea replied, unfazed by Jude’s sudden declaration.  Fritz, on the other hand, felt a little hurt. Sure, he’d only known them for about a week or so, but he still wanted them to trust him.  They were trailing the second most powerful Nazi in the Reich; it wasn’t unreasonable for Fritz to want his teammates to trust him.

“We were attacked by six men the other night, did you know that?”  Tony asked, staring at Fritz as if it was his fault. Fritz frowned, trying not to be too upset by Tony’s words, but failed as Tony continued to point hypothetical fingers.  “He goes on a mission with you and Thea and that mission fails. He’s gone for a couple of days and six men show up, knowing exactly who they’d find in that bar and where the vault in Carol’s office was.  It doesn’t look very good for him here, does it?”

“Excuse me,”  Fritz interjected.  Tony rolled his eyes and looked up at Thea instead of at Fritz.  “I know you haven’t known me that long, but I’m not a Nazi.”

“I never said you were,”  Tony pointed out, jumping up from his seat.  “You practically just confirmed it.”

“He’s not a Nazi,”  Jude exclaimed, getting between Fritz and Tony as Tony clenched his fists.  Thea continued to stare at Fritz from behind Tony, ignoring Jude and Tony’s angry yelling.  Fritz tried to tune it out as well, but he refused to be demoted to the title of ‘Nazi’.

“You don’t have to like me, Tony, but don’t try and turn me into a bad guy,”  Fritz growled. Jude pushed him away from Tony, but that just made Fritz even more upset.  “I’m the one stalking a guarded fox den every day while you sit back here with your computer games and baby sister who likes to paint her nails.”

“You do not get to say that,”  Tony yelled, lunging for Fritz.  Jude was caught in the middle as Tony tried to beat Fritz into a pulp.  Unfortunately for both Jude and Tony, Fritz fought back just as vigorously.  Tony landed a punch to Fritz’s ear moments before Fritz elbowed Jude on his way to punch Tony’s face.  Jude retaliated by kicking Fritz in the chest and swinging his arm around to hit Tony’s head. Tony fumed and grabbed the nearest object to him.  He hit Jude over the head with his keyboard, smashing it multiple times over his shoulders and face until it was well beyond fixable. Fritz charged at Tony, grabbing his waist and crashing to the floor.  He was about to punch in Tony’s nose, but Thea appeared behind him and pulled his arm behind his back with a strength he hadn’t expected her to possess. When Fritz groaned at the pressure, beginning to worry his arm would pop out of its socket, she threw him off Tony and spun around to knock Jude off his feet.  Once all three boys were lying on the floor in varying degrees of pain, she stood up and frowned at each of them.

“No one in this room is the Nazi spy,”  she told them, giving Tony a hard look. Tony had the decency to look ashamed and avoid her stare as he sat up.  “Just because I believe you, Fritz doesn’t mean I trust you. The sooner you get that through your head, the better.”

“Yes, ma’am,”  Fritz murmured.  He sat up, rubbing his shoulder and looking at Jude who was frowning and rubbing the back of his head.

“So if Fritz’s not the Nazi spy, who is?”  Tony asked, finally looking back up at Thea in confusion.

If Thea was honest, she didn’t know who the Nazi spy was.  She had a couple of ideas, but they all seemed absurd. The first one she’d tossed out the window was Carol which was quickly followed by the possibility of it being Tony.  While she knew he didn’t necessarily like Pengin or agree with his mission involving Hoffman, he’d never do anything that put anyone other than himself at risk. That had flown out the window when six men had attacked them in the bar.  She believed Fritz’s story no matter how much she hated it. It was always easier when the Nazis walked right to her rather than made her go to them. However, if Hoffman really was in contact with Sasha Markovich and he knew she wasn’t actually dead, everything was automatically made more complicated than necessary.  I’m gonna need more vodka, she thought, making a mental note to have Carol order her favorite brand with her next order.  For the moment, though, she needed to focus on finding a new keyboard for Tony after he’d destroyed his over Jude’s head.

“This one is fine, Tony,”  she said, holding up a plain black one.  Tony made a face at it but took it from her hands to inspect closer.  “We have five minutes before they close and only seventy-five Reichsmarks.  Decide fast.”

“I like this one,”  Tony declared, reaching for a much fancier keyboard.  It had a split between letters for his right hand and letters for his left hand.  It had a padded edge to rest his wrists on and its own number pad, unlike the one Thea had offered him.  After making sure it had every F-key at the top, he nodded and led the way to the cashier. The man hardly blinked as he scanned the keyboard, took the Reichsmarks Thea handed him, and gave them a receipt.  They left the store without difficulty and hurried back to the bar. Instead of going through the dumpster, they walked in through the side door and entered the back rooms through the vault.

“You’re back,”  Carol stated as they passed her in the hallway.  Thea showed her the keyboard they’d bought as she followed Tony back to his den and Carol nodded in understanding.  She’d walked into the den moments after the boys had stopped fighting to see what all the yelling was about. She’d immediately backtracked at the sight of Thea standing over the three of them and a shattered keyboard.  If there was one thing she was good at, it was overlooking situations she didn’t want to be held accountable for.

Tony spent the first five minutes after returning from the store hooking his new keyboard up to his computer.  Fritz and Jude were eating in the dining room with Thea but brought him food when they’d finished. Tony switched between eating and searching through files for every name Jude had overhead while at the embassy.  Fritz would look at the photos and let them know whether or not he’d seen them at the embassy. Unfortunately, almost every person had been at the embassy and most of them were fairly low-ranking Nazis. After an hour of useless searching, Thea spoke up.

“Try Pierre Mandeler,”  she suggested, pointing at Tony’s computer.  She was sitting on her bean bag working on her tablet silently while the boys worked together.  Tony typed in the name, having to try three times before he spelled it correctly and a face popped up.

“He was there.”  Fritz nodded, looking at the blurry photo that had shown up.  Thea looked at him, setting aside her tablet and watching him closely.

“You’re positive?  Mandeler was there?”  she asked. Fritz nodded again and Thea cursed.  She hurried across the room and stepped between Tony and the computer.  Tony raised his hands in defeat as Thea took control of his computer. She pulled Mandeler’s file up onto a screen on the wall and searched up other names.  She found three more people—only one of whom Fritz admitted to seeing—and put their profiles up next to Mandeler’s on the screens in front of them.

“I’ve seen that guy,”  Jude said, pointing at the wall.  “The one in the middle; I’ve seen him before.”

“Where?”  Fritz asked.  He certainly hadn’t been at the embassy or if he had, Fritz had missed him.

“He was at that place we went, Thea,”  Jude said, turning to face her. Thea looked up from the computer at him, pursing her lips as she tried to remember who had been in the room with Hoffman a few nights prior.  Tony looked between them once before piecing together what they were talking about. He sighed and rolled his eyes. Of course Thea had taken Jude to the pier at some point. Why was he surprised?

“What?  I don’t follow,”  Fritz said. Jude didn’t explain it and Fritz was left to wonder what they were talking about.

Thea’s face suddenly lit up as she remembered seeing both Mandeler and Vaughn Hugh at the meeting with Hoffman.  She took down the two profiles no one had recognized and replaced them with seven more; all men who had been at Hoffman’s meeting.  Unsurprisingly, most of them were outlined in red, signaling there were key words that tied them to one of the many words Tony kept tagged on his computer.  She stared at them for a little while before her eyes slowly widened and she looked down at Tony.

“I know what’s going on,”  she told him. She looked back at the profiles and shook her head.  Tony asked what she meant, but his questions fell on deaf ears. Thea was too focused on the screens in front of her to bother hearing Tony or Jude or Fritz ask her a million things.  “I’ll be back,” she announced, leaving the room quickly and going to find Carol.

Carol was sitting in her office on the other side of the vault preparing a list of things for her next order.  She saw the vault door open out of her peripheral vision and knew it was Thea when she could hardly hear footsteps.  She only looked up when she saw Thea’s shadow in front of her. Thea was standing on the other side of her desk wearing jeans, a large t-shirt Carol figured was actually Tony’s, a leather jacket, and a baseball cap.   Her red hair had been braided and tucked under a short blonde wig. She was wearing glasses and even though she didn’t look it, Carol was absolutely certain she was packing weapons up to her teeth. Carol raised an eyebrow at her in question, but Thea didn’t offer an explanation.

“We’re going to find Marie,”  she told her. Carol looked down at her notebooks then back up at Thea.  When Thea realized Carol wasn’t immediately on board, she said, “I know what’s going on with Hoffman and who he met, but we need to find Marie first.”  That was enough to get Carol to put her books away and grab a jacket. She followed Thea out the side door of the bar and onto the street.

“So is grunge your new look or are we being tailed?”  Carol asked quietly, falling into step with Thea. Thea looked past her down a street and narrowed her eyes when she noticed the patrol officers seemed more than fit to do their job.

“Hoffman knows I’m alive,”  she murmured, grabbing Carol’s elbow and steering her down a new street.  As unnerved as Carol felt, she didn’t speed up her pace. Thea looped her arm through Carol’s, making it appear like they were just two friends going into town rather than one friend guiding another to some unknown location.  “Short story is he saw me the other night and based on Tony’s reports, he’s sent out a few of my old coworkers to hunt me down,” she explained briefly. She tugged Carol around a corner and Carol stumbled over a rough patch of cobblestone.

“Not that I don’t love you and all,”  Carol said quietly, looking around the street nervously.  Thea pinched her arm and Carol tried to change her facial expression into one that appeared calm instead of worried.  “But I’m not really cut out for this kind of “escape the bad guys” and undercover thing.”

“You’re doing great,”  Thea assured her. Carol was pretty sure Thea had just said that so she’d calm down, but it didn’t really work.  Thea pulled her into a shop and they pretended to look at the little trinkets the shop owner had. Thea was doing a much better job at pretending than Carol was if she was completely honest.  Carol couldn’t stop the pounding in her ears or her racing heart no matter how often Thea pointed out cute cat drawings or figurines. It was only after Thea was leading her to the bathroom in the back that Carol wondered what kind of shop had so many cat-themed trinkets in it.

Thea didn’t let her ask before gently pushing her into the bathroom and locking the door.  Carol waited for Thea to tell her there weren’t any cameras or recording devices around before panicking.  She took deep breaths and paced the bathroom, looking up at Thea every now and then. Thea waited patiently for Carol to get all her panic out in a quiet and efficient way, watching as she tucked at her hair and muttered unintelligibly.

“I can’t do this!”  Carol whispered loudly, tugging at her blonde hair.  Thea stepped forward, and gently put her hands on Carol’s shoulders.  “I can’t do the sneaking around stuff like you can. You should have brought Tony or Jude--hell, Fritz would have done better!”

“Hey, hey,”  Thea said, rubbing Carol’s arms to calm her down.  Carol looked up at Thea with wide, panicked eyes. “I can’t bring any of them; you’re my only bet right now.  Jude and Fritz work at the embassy now and if they’re seen with me, they’re compromised. Hoffman’s first bet would be to find Tony and tag any girl he’s seen with, including me.  No one would suspect Carol Bayer, bar owner extraordinaire, to be in cahoots with Thea Rossi. You’re the only one I have, Carol, and I need you to pretend you’re on a fun, girl’s day for four hours, can you do that?”  Thea looked at Carol earnestly and for a moment Carol started to believe she could.

“I--I think…”  she trailed off then shook her head fiercely.  “I can’t do that, Thea! I’m horrible at lying and I can’t hide my emotions for anything!”

“You have to try!”  Thea exclaimed, shaking Carol hard enough she knew Thea wasn’t kidding.  Carol bit her lip as tears sprang into her eyes and Thea sighed. She dropped her hands from Carol’s arms and closed her eyes.  The bathroom was silent as Thea tried to think of how she could convince Carol to be her cover. In the end, she sighed and nodded.  “Alright,” she said softly, “I know how you feel about undercover missions and I shouldn’t have dragged you along with me. I’m sorry.”

“I forgive you,”  Carol said quietly, looking at the ground.  “I can try. I promise to do my best, but I don’t think my best is good enough.”  Thea shook her head and looked up at Carol.

“No, go back home,”  she told her, pulling Carol in for a hug.  “I don’t know why I felt the need for someone to go with me to get Marie.  I can do it on my own and you can go back to the bar.” Carol nodded and Thea gave her a warm smile.  “Now go,” she instructed, opening the bathroom door. They walked out of the shop together and Carol managed to hug Thea and say goodbye as if they were just finishing their girl’s day out.  Thea waved, watching Carol until she turned the corner and was out of sight. As soon as she was gone, Thea continued her walk to Marie’s apartment on the other end of town.